Insee
Informations Rapides · 26 February 2021 · n° 057
Informations rapidesIn December 2020, sales volume in trade recovered after lockdown was lifted Sales volume in wholesale and retail trade - December 2020

In December 2020, the volume of sales in trade picked up (+8.6% after −8.2% in November), due to the end of the second lockdown.

Informations rapides
No 057
Paru le :Paru le26/02/2021
Prochaine parution le : 28/08/2025 at 08:45 - June 2025
Imprimer
Découvrir la collection
Données
(xls, 290 Ko)
Warning

All data are corrected for seasonal and working day effects (SA-WDA).

In the following paragraphs, percentage changes by subsections are presented in descending order of their contribution to the overall percentage change of the volume of sales in wholesale and retail trade index. The contribution of a subsection takes into account its weight and the magnitude of its evolution.

In December 2020, the volume of sales in trade picked up (+8.6% after −8.2% in November), due to the end of the second lockdown.

In December 2020, sales volume recovered in the three main trade sectors after lockdown was lifted

In December, the volume of sales in retail trade bounced back (+20.7% after −15.7% in November). This strong rebound could be explained not only by the reopening of all stores and the postponement of some Christmas purchases usually made in November, but also by the date shift of the "Black Friday" discounts to December. The volume of sales thus rebounded strongly in specialised stores (+30.1% after −21.9%), especially in other goods in specialised stores (clothing, shoes etc.: +32.8% after −23.2%), other household equipment (furniture, appliances, hardware, etc.: +28.9% after −19.1%), and cultural and recreation goods (+76.7% after −39.2%). The volume of sales in automotive fuel bounced back strongly in December (+21.5% after −27.2%) while remaining at a lower level than that of February 2020 (−16,3%). It also recovered in non-specialised stores (+13.2% after −11.6%), due to the reopening of ''non-essential'' goods sections, and kept rising in retail trade not in stores (+4.9% after +3.6%).

In December, the volume of sales in trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles recovered (+12.3% after −15.2%).

The volume of sales in wholesale trade rose in December (+2.0% after −2.2% in November). It rebounded in the wholesale of household goods (+5.5% after −3.0%), and dwindled sharply in the wholesale of other machinery, equipment and supplies (−6.9% after +3.3%).

Forecast

According to early estimates, the sales volume in retail trade except that of motor vehicles and motorcycles should decrease sharply in January 2021 (−10.0%), especially due to the delayed winter sales and the curfew measures. From November 2020 to January 2021, it should decrease by 2.7% when compared with the same period one year earlier.

Sales volume in wholesale trade and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

Sales volume in wholesale trade and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
Motor vehicles and motorcycles - 45 Wholesale - 46 Retail trade - 47 Wholesale and retail trade - G
2016-01 105.31 101.8 102.44 102.43
2016-02 104.39 101.98 103.08 102.61
2016-03 104.83 102.38 102.24 102.65
2016-04 105.96 101.61 101.76 102.21
2016-05 105.96 101.76 102.78 102.6
2016-06 105.85 100.25 102.52 101.63
2016-07 103.33 100.38 102.76 101.46
2016-08 107.74 100.76 102.56 102.18
2016-09 108.17 100.81 102.8 102.34
2016-10 107.04 100.88 104.78 102.81
2016-11 110.64 103.66 103.91 104.62
2016-12 109.68 102.17 104.16 103.71
2017-01 110.64 102.35 105.05 104.2
2017-02 111.61 103.14 105.6 104.94
2017-03 113.59 104.82 105.82 106.23
2017-04 109.19 102.56 105.34 104.22
2017-05 114.29 103.93 106.28 105.94
2017-06 114.09 104.76 105.73 106.23
2017-07 114.86 106.11 107.35 107.59
2017-08 114.31 105.41 105.95 106.7
2017-09 116.25 106.03 109.16 108.26
2017-10 117.55 104.22 106.24 106.51
2017-11 117.78 106.35 109.75 108.8
2017-12 121.68 106.88 108.46 109.23
2018-01 117.22 105.29 107.81 107.55
2018-02 117.14 105.74 108.63 108.04
2018-03 118.97 105.55 110.27 108.65
2018-04 118.87 105.85 108.14 108.18
2018-05 119.07 107.29 109.8 109.53
2018-06 120.31 107.47 110.05 109.86
2018-07 118.26 105.5 110.02 108.45
2018-08 118.54 107.11 110.17 109.47
2018-09 118.14 105.19 110.0 108.25
2018-10 119.94 108.52 111.6 110.88
2018-11 118.1 107.38 110.96 109.8
2018-12 112.22 107.58 110.12 108.92
2019-01 121.84 107.82 110.93 110.52
2019-02 122.5 109.15 112.29 111.77
2019-03 121.33 108.71 111.75 111.21
2019-04 121.44 109.69 112.75 112.09
2019-05 121.91 109.79 112.45 112.12
2019-06 122.42 109.38 112.97 112.1
2019-07 123.24 109.31 112.16 111.92
2019-08 124.12 110.32 114.3 113.25
2019-09 124.08 110.36 113.42 113.01
2019-10 122.95 110.38 113.56 112.92
2019-11 124.7 110.22 114.65 113.37
2019-12 124.69 109.7 113.09 112.6
2020-01 123.54 110.66 114.09 113.31
2020-02 120.24 109.94 113.81 112.39
2020-03 64.24 95.88 95.78 91.83
2020-04 30.2 80.82 78.32 73.64
2020-05 88.19 97.12 107.76 99.13
2020-06 128.78 110.58 117.03 114.8
2020-07 133.77 110.97 113.3 114.56
2020-08 133.54 110.05 121.06 116.29
2020-09 129.82 109.52 116.68 114.21
2020-10 126.81 109.73 119.73 114.85
2020-11 107.5 107.32 100.97 105.47
2020-12 120.73 109.48 121.82 114.55

Sales volume in wholesale trade and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

  • Sources: DGFiP, INSEE

Sales volume in wholesale trade and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

SA-WDA volume, Base year 2015
Sales volume in wholesale trade and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (SA-WDA volume, Base year 2015)
Nace Classification Weight Dec. 2020 Change in %
Dec./Nov. Nov./Oct. Dec./Feb. q-o-q(1) y-o-y(2)
G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 10000 114.6 8.6 -8.2 1.9 -3.0 -1.2
45 Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 1272 120.7 12.3 -15.2 0.4 -10.6 -4.6
451 Sale of motor vehicles 850 125.1 11.9 -16.2 0.2 -11.7 -4.8
452 Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles 89 112.6 7.4 -10.4 -0.7 -5.3 -4.6
453 Sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories 306 110.7 14.0 -13.3 0.8 -7.9 -4.5
454 Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories 27 123.6 25.0 -18.1 7.8 -16.2 0.6
46 Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 5777 109.5 2.0 -2.2 -0.4 -1.2 -1.1
461 Wholesale on a fee or contract basis 813 113.2 0.9 -2.4 -0.9 -1.8 -0.3
462 Agricultural raw materials and live animals 390 88.1 -2.7 -4.2 -13.0 -1.0 -2.6
463 Food, beverages and tobacco 1029 99.9 2.7 -5.1 -4.6 -3.6 -4.5
464 Household goods 1130 119.6 5.5 -3.0 7.8 -0.3 2.3
465 Information and communication equipment 331 122.8 5.2 -7.9 -2.5 -7.1 -4.8
466 Other machinery, equipment and supplies 716 110.8 -6.9 3.3 -3.3 3.7 -0.7
467 Other specialised wholesale 1132 105.5 4.3 0.3 -0.1 1.2 -1.5
469 Non specialised wholesale trade 236 121.8 6.6 -2.1 8.8 -8.8 0.9
47 Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 2952 121.8 20.7 -15.7 7.0 -2.4 0.4
471 Retail sale in non-specialised stores 1109 115.8 13.2 -11.6 2.4 -0.4 1.4
472 to 477 Retail sale in specialised stores 1622 119.2 30.1 -21.9 7.0 -6.3 -3.6
472 Food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores 155 135.8 8.7 -5.8 9.8 -0.4 6.6
473 Automotive fuel in specialised stores 224 78.1 21.5 -27.2 -16.3 -15.5 -18.3
474 Information and communication equipment in specialised stores 65 138.9 31.0 -20.3 2.6 -7.2 -8.3
475 Other household equipment in specialised stores 310 132.3 28.9 -19.1 21.2 -2.4 9.9
476 Cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores 118 124.8 76.7 -39.2 13.4 -12.3 -7.8
477 Other goods in specialised stores 750 120.1 32.8 -23.2 6.0 -6.1 -6.5
478 and 479 Retail trade not in stores 221 171.3 4.9 3.6 26.5 12.0 20.8
  • (1) Quarter-on-quarter: last three months /previous three months.
  • (2) Year-on-year: last three months / same three months of previous year
  • Sources: DGFiP, INSEE

The sales volume of the past three months decreased by 1.2% over a year

The volume of sales of the fourth quarter of 2020 in overall trade decreased by 1.2% when compared with that of the fourth quarter of 2019. It decreased both in trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (−4.6%), and in wholesale trade (−1.1%). On the contrary, the volume of sales rose by 0.4% in retail trade: it grew in retail trade not in stores (+20.8%), and in non-specialised stores (+1.4%), while it decreased by 3.6% in specialised stores.

Revisions

The percentage change in the sales volume of overall trade in November 2020 has been slightly revised downwards, at −8.2% instead of −8.0% initially published.

Revision of variationsin percentage points

Revision of variations
Nov./Oct. Oct./Sept. Sept./Aug. Q3 2020/Q2 2020 2019/2018
G Overall trade -0.14 -0.12 0.32 0.07 0.00
Raw series -0.05 -0.18 0.31 0.12 0.00
SA-WDA parameters -0.09 0.06 0.01 -0.05 0.00
  • How to read : in the wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, the SA-WDA variation between October 2020 and November 2020 is revised by -0.14 points. -0.05 points are due to the raw series’ revision and -0.09 points to the new calculation of the SA-WDA parameters.
  • Sources: DGFiP, INSEE

For further information

Next issue: 31 March 2021 at 12h00

Documentation

Sales volume index in trade (pdf,35 Ko)

La note méthodologique simplifiee_anglais (pdf,28 Ko)

Pour en savoir plus

Next issue: 31 March 2021 at 12h00

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr

Time series: Sales volume in wholesale and retail trade

Time series: Turnover index in wholesale and retail trade

Publication calendar